Saturday, October 17, 2015

Skydiving in the Military (part 1 of 2)

Since the 1940’s, the military has used skydiving to
infiltrate behind enemy lines and conduct various missions. This is what
differentiates what soldiers and skydivers do because as a soldier, their
objective is to accomplish a mission and not have fun.

There are various ways how this is executed by the military.
The first is the HAHO or HALO. This stands for high altitude high opening or
high altitude low opening jump. This is used by the Special Forces, Navy Seals,
Marine Corps Force Recon and the Army’s Green Beret.

Troops wear special gear known as HAPPS or High Altitude
Precision Parachute System. It is also called a "stealth parachute"
because it is hard for anyone to spot them from the ground. Given that these
soldiers are jumping from much higher altitudes, they carry additional
equipment like an oxygen tank. Their parachutes are also bigger and measure 360
square feet.

In World War 2 until the present, the army’s airborne troops
still use static line jumps to deploy a large force. This is done at a much
lower altitude usually less than a thousand feet and they use round parachutes.

The military has their way of having fun. During an air show
or sometimes in a competition, a team is sent to participate in the event. The
US Army has the “Golden Knights” while the Royal Air Force or RAF has the
“Falcons.” The equipment they use here are very similar to what sports
skydivers use.

Military skydivers are deployed from large aircraft or
sometimes by helicopter. They carry more gear than the average skydiver because
aside from the parachute, they also carry weapons and other equipment which is
needed in the mission.